A solar cell having a solar collector and storage element is known in the art (WO 99/54669, Giuseppe Fent, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference) and has in its architectural implementation (Lucido®, trademark of Lucido Solar AG, 9500 Wil SG, Switzerland) won several awards. WO 99/54669 discloses a thermal solar collector with an incident-angle-selective structure and a transparent rear-vented cover, the collector being mounted onto an insulated building façade. The incident solar energy is time delayed (“stored”) by four to twelve hours, depending on the heat capacity and thermal transmittance property of the cell's components, and then transferred to the building walls and into the interior of the room creating a comfortable climate with temperate wall surfaces and a corresponding energy gain.
In the field of sustainable buildings, however, there is a demand for maximum use of irradiated solar energy in the form of both thermal and electrical energy. Surplus electrical energy can be either fed back into the electrical grid and/or used to charge an electric vehicle. Such excess electrical energy may also be used to power an efficient brine-to-water heat pump by using stored thermal energy time-delayed in a conventional heating system (e.g., radiant floor heating) or to preheat (heat exchanger) the air of the ventilation system and/or for cooling (cooling ceilings).
In particular, there is a need for a hybrid solar collector that also allows for the retrofitting of existing façades in order to accommodate the growing demand of locally generated electrical energy especially as storage technologies (e.g. batteries) continue to improve.
Furthermore, such a hybrid collector should be aesthetically pleasing and, through structural flexibility, visually adaptable to local environmental conditions as well as the building's structure.
It is therefore a goal of this invention to develop a hybrid solar collector for façades and an operating procedure, which increases the total gain of usable energy without compromising the functioning of the thermal collector that helps regulate the indoor climate (comfort climate WO-A1-99/54669).
It is a further goal of this invention to develop a hybrid solar collector for façades that is able to adjust and compensate for existing diurnal climate fluctuations without a large technological expense, and reduce, and at times even completely eliminate, dependence on the electrical grid and its power feed